Nissan Sunny Diesel Or....?

[disperspective]

So the day before Diwali we ended up at the local Nissan showroom for the Sunny Diesel. We had made our choice as it ticked all the right boxes: within 10 lacs, sedan body (i love suvs but dad n mom hate them), great backseat room, great bootspace, premium looks, diesel with good mileage - a pervasive desi trait.....we look to lower recurring fuel costs even though daily run is not even 30 kms. Oh and this one is for the chauffeur's daily grind - me and dad will be sharing our 6 yr old faithful honda city zx vtec, and we also have a 3 yr old i20 we'll be keeping for the time being as its resale price has probably hit rock bottom and we may need to use it every once in a while.

all was going well until this morning, when the sales guy called to inform me that a cashback-type bonus they had offered to us on the day of our visit last week, will not be given upfront, but rather we will have to wait upto 45 days for nissan to send it to the dealer, who will then give it to us. This annoyed me a little, as the amount in question is a decent chunk of change, plus he mentioned it to me on the day i was supposed to make full payment (I am yet to make the booking amount payment even, as the car was lying in dealer's ready stock so i didnt feel the need to pay any amount at the time of the "booking" last week). i do not put it past the dealer to give me a literal run for the bonus money once the sale is made.

so the above incident is making me reconsider the purchase altogether. that, and the fact that Kolkata has only one nissan dealer/service center, and given the pace of growth of our great city, i do not foresee another nissan service center coming up here within the useful life of my soon-to-be-maybe Sunny.

soooooo i hope some of the experts here will help me decide whether i should go with the purchase, or is there another option i should consider. i have already mentioned in the early part of this short post, the key considerations for my next purchase.


hoping for your comments!!!!!

 

[Ankx]

Hi

Dont worry too much about the NISSANs future in India. It is large spread global brand and no brand today wants to get out of India beleive me

I see so many NISSAN products here in Brasil and selling and doing very good service

Even the SUNNY which you are considering is called VERSA here and oh my god what space it has, really amazes me

If you could have said PETROL as well, I would have suggested definitely Honda City to you the KING of PETROL

 

[350Z]

all was going well until this morning, when the sales guy called to inform me that a cashback-type bonus they had offered to us on the day of our visit last week, will not be given upfront, but rather we will have to wait upto 45 days for nissan to send it to the dealer, who will then give it to us. This annoyed me a little, as the amount in question is a decent chunk of change, plus he mentioned it to me on the day i was supposed to make full payment

Justification given by the dealer looks genuine. You could still proceed with this deal but with a slight caution. Ask the salesman to give in writing about the cash back bonus on official letterhead and keep pursuing timely after the deal.

we look to lower recurring fuel costs even though daily run is not even 30 kms.

I do not think a diesel would be suitable for the mentioned usage. The fuel costs would eventually compensate considering the relatively higher initial investment and maintenance of a diesel model. Although Sunny is a perfect chauffeur-driven car but Honda City and Skoda Rapid are another worth considering options. Good luck.

Drive Safe,
350Z

 

[disperspective]

Justification given by the dealer looks genuine. You could still proceed with this deal but with a slight caution. Ask the salesman to give in writing about the cash back bonus on official letterhead and keep pursuing timely after the deal.

I do not think a diesel would be suitable for the mentioned usage. The fuel costs would eventually compensate considering the relatively higher initial investment and maintenance of a diesel model. Although Sunny is a perfect chauffeur-driven car but Honda City and Skoda Rapid are another worth considering options. Good luck.

Drive Safe,
350Z

i agree with you, and thats why today i decided to go ahead and take the car anyway, and dealer is supposedly going to provide me a letter mentioning that bonus is due to me and will be given to me once received from Nissan. payment is being made tomorrow first thing, and delivery on friday

i see your point about usage justifying petrol, but diesel will have better resale value anyway. plus, i am not sure what you mean when you say higher maintenance costa for diesel - can you help me understand that better as we have only had petrol cars for the last 20 odd years, and were under the impression that diesel engines today are on par or even more refined that their petrol run contemporaries, given the relatively higher mileage generated by diesel vehicles and even bmw and merc buyers going for diesel rather than petrol.

 

[350Z]

i am not sure what you mean when you say higher maintenance costa for diesel - can you help me understand that better as we have only had petrol cars for the last 20 odd years, and were under the impression that diesel engines today are on par or even more refined that their petrol run contemporaries

Yes, it’s true that modern diesel engines are quite superior but its undeniable fact that overall diesel models have relatively more maintenance costs in comparison with petrol. It shouldn’t be a major cause of concern though as long as the running is justified. Congrats on booking and do keep us updated.

Drive Safe,
350Z

 

[disperspective]

Ok here's an update - made full payment to dealer on thursday, and reportedly the car has gone for registration on friday. Since we have elected to not opt for fancy number, it would take 3 working days for registration to happen as opposed to same day TAT for fancy number regn. So as of now, plan is for wednesday delivery.

 

[dharmesh]

Congratzzz for your new buy mate. What was OTR for Sunny Diesel?

And please do post an ownership review and lotz of pics. :-)

 

[disperspective]

Congratzzz for your new buy mate. What was OTR for Sunny Diesel?

And please do post an ownership review and lotz of pics. :-)

otr price in kolkata after discount and inclusive of zero depr insurance etc. and NO free accessories working out to 9.06 L, and exch bonus of rs. 25k was extra.

 

[disperspective]

Delivery experience and 1 day ownership review

So I got a call late on tuesday that the papers are in order and car is at the dealership. worked out perfect as next day was wednesday (lord ganesha's day) and so me and my uncle merrily reached the dealership sometime in the afternoon today. after the paperwork signing ritual and the customary walkaround of the car and fiddling with a few switches etc., we accepted the keys. a pandit ji was brought out of the woodwork who performed a puja, and i asked for the cake to go, as a cake cutting ceremony would have been no fun without the family present. a few thanks and congrats from the sales staff and tips to the cleaner/ drivers later, we were merrily on our way to the nearest petrol pump. made sure the amount was exactly rs. 1001 for the diesel (pump attendant found it amusing when i asked him to give 1 rupee worth of diesel more after filling 1000 rupees) and then went to the lake kalibari temple for the "real" puja. dropped uncle home (god bless him for coming with me today) and reached home. thus ends the detailed description of a smooth delivery day.

Day 1 experience

I drove abut 20 kms today in the city, which included light, moderate and heavy traffic conditions. when i started, i was obviously nervous and drove slower and steadier than usual, getting the feel of commandeering a big boat at a ghat in varanasi. the rumours you have heard about the brakes are true: the braking is definitely not sharp, but adequate nonetheless. steering is awesome. pulling power is great, and the caaar happily pulls along without any accelerator input, from 2nd gear onwards. i did not find anything wrong while cornering. i could feel the heavy engine pulling in the direction of the turn, while making U Turns, but i sort of liked the feeling of something heavy and solid upfront after a lifetime of driving light-engined japanese petrols. the cabin light flickers nervously when starting the car with the cabin light on, is that a battery issue? also, my friendly neighbour's over-eager driver pointed out a miniscule panel gap, but a gap nonetheless - there is a difference in the front left and front right corners spaces of the bonnet lid with the grille. i don't think its a big deal for me, but ill get it checked at the time of 1 month free-checkup. whoever said the caaar is not fun to drive probably owns a ferrari or something - I enjoyed overtaking and accelerating on the EM Bypass in light traffic late at night today.

all in all, I am happy with my purchase, and with a big smile I end my day 1 report.

 

[matterwaves]

congratulations on the purchase. Sunny has superb torque at low rpm is easy to drive. Good Observations- my finding from the 8 km long test drive i had was brakes don't do anything for a little distance you depress the pedal. Its only after that 'play' does it start to bite. Seems like a calibration issue rather than any fault with the brakes themselves. I did ram the brake pedal a few times at speeds over 60 km and found them to be ok-- not the linea/ etios standard though. Uneven panel gaps at the front-- it seems to have been pointed out earlier in some ownership review

 

[allhyundaicars]

congrats on the new car disperspective

so is there any turbo lag ?
and the cabin light flickering. it's normal in every car.
even the headlights will turn off while you start the car when headlights are on.

 

[disperspective]

To be honest I do not know what turbo lag means. When I press the accelerator the car moves forward, not too dissimilarly than other cars I have driven. While accelerating, the car feels powerful and seems eager to push forward and grab the road ahead. Some reviewers have complained of lightness but I would be damned if I don't admit to feeling similar to driving a pontiac bonneville or other such American made midsize solidly built vehicles. Comparitively, my Honda City feels like a little hatchback, and I am sure the Diesel engine in Nissan contributes to this perception in no small measure.

Regarding the lights, I see the headlights flickering slightly when the car is idling but that may be because the engine is shaking slightly while idling??

 

[allhyundaicars]

that eagerness to push forward is the turbo charger every diesel has one. Turbo lag is the time difference when you actualy press the accelerator and when the engine wants to push. In many cars its a second or two. Turbo takes time to kick in.
So do you find this , you press the accelerator and after a second or two the car has that power?
And no while the engine is running , the headlamps should not flicker.

you have your hatch honda city you can compare. if you are not sure get it checked.

 

[disperspective]

I have a habit of quickly shifting into 2nd gear and by the time the car is doing 40-50, I am already in 5th. I normally noitice the turbocharger kicking in in the higher gears i.e. 3rd and up and by 5th I do not even need to touch the accelerator at all!!
I will try and notice if I am getting much turbo in 2nd in the first few seconds, even though I doubt it.

 

[disperspective]

And another thing - The ride is super smooth and you hardly feel the smaller bumps at all. This, to me, is a HUGE plus for our potholed and cratered streets. As one foreign journalist noted after seeing Kolkata roads - it seems that the city has been airbombed recently hahahahhahah